No, Mycroft Holmes Was Much More Than That. He Was, Sherlock Holmes

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

No, Mycroft Holmes was much more than that. He was, Sherlock Holmes later said, “the most indispensable man in the country…the central exchange, the clearing house” for matters of national security. Occasionally, in that most famous of comments about Mycroft Holmes, he was the British government. With this in mind, consider these elements in the account of “The Greek Interpreter:” It just so happens that, after anywhere from seven to a dozen years, depending on the chronology that you follow, Watson is astonished to learn in an off-hand exchange that his friend, fellow lodger, confidant and colleague, Sherlock Holmes, has an older brother. It just so happens that this older brother is only a five-minute walk distant, so Holmes and Watson decide to take a leisurely stroll over to the Diogenes Club to meet the mysterious Mycroft just minutes after Watson learns of his existence. It just so happens that, once they get there, Mycroft Holmes has an interesting mystery for Sherlock and Dr. Watson to investigate. This mystery involves a Greek interpreter named Melas, who has endured a hair-raising experience. It just so happens that this hair-raising experience took place just two evenings ago. It just so happens that Melas lives in the same building as Mycroft Holmes. It just so happens that Melas is available at a moment’s notice to come to the Diogenes Club and repeat his story to Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. It just so happens that Sherlock Holmes has nothing better to do at the moment, and he decides to pursue the matter, since Mycroft doesn’t possess the energy to do so. It just so happens that this is all a bunch of baloney, an elaborate set-up, a piece of theatre staged for the benefit of the credulous Dr. Watson. Sherlock Holmes knew perfectly well that the game was afoot before he revealed the secret of Mycroft’s existence to Watson. And Sherlock Holmes lets the cat out of the bag a little later in the story, when he admits, “Some of my most interesting cases have come to me in this way through Mycroft.” To make the case, take a look at Mycroft’s description of Melas to Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson: “He lodges on the floor above me, and I have some slight acquaintance with him. Mr. Melas is a Greek by extraction, as I understand, and he is a remarkable linguist. He earns his living as Canadian Holmes ¬ Fall 2017 7 .

Copy Link

Recommended publications

Issue #53 Spring 2006
T HE NORWEGIAN EXPLORERS OF MINNESOTA, INC. ©2006 Winter, 2006 EXPLORATIONS Issue #53 EXPLORATIONSEXPLORATIONS From the (Outgoing) President . Julie McKuras, ASH, BSI Inside this issue: Internet Explorations 2 Annual Meeting & Dinner 3 Explorer Travels 4 A New Take on Mrs. Hudson 5 Holmes and Plastic Man? 6 The English 8 A Toast to Mycroft 9 Sherlock’s Last Case 9 From the Editor’s Desk Study Group 10 n this last issue of Explorations for 2006 delivered at our annual dinner, joining I we recap our recent annual meeting and frequent contributors Mike Eckman and dinner, notable for a changing of the guard Bob Brusic as well as Study Group reviewer as Julie McKuras stepped down after an Charles Clifford. Phil Bergem continues his energetic nine years as president of the Nor- Internet Explorations, and we look forward wegian Explorers. We are sure that our new to an upcoming performance of a Sher- president, Gary Thaden, will ably carry on lockian play. in the tradition of Julie and all our past Letters to the editor or other submis- leaders, including our founder and Siger- sions for Explorations are always welcome. son, the late E.W. “Mac” McDiarmid. We Please email items in Word or plain text also note travels by Explorers to two recent format to [email protected] conferences, both of which featured speak- ers from the ranks of the Explorers. We John Bergquist, BSI welcome Ray Riethmeier as a contributor to Editor, Explorations the newsletter by printing his fine toast Page 2 EXPLORATIONS Issue #53 From the (Incoming) President Internet Explorations .
[Show full text]
Sherlock's Relationships in the Twenty-First Century
1 Sherlock's Relationships in the Twenty-First Century BA Thesis Stijn Koster 3653099 Gageldijk 84b 3566 MG Utrecht English Language and Culture dr. Roselinde Supheert 29 June 2014 2 Table of Contents Introduction 3 Chapter 1: Adaptations 4 Chapter 2: Who is Sherlock? 6 Chapter 3: The Relationship Between Holmes and Watson 10 Chapter 4: Sherlock and the Others 15 4.1 Mycroft Holmes 16 4.2 Jim Moriarty 18 4.3 Gregory Lestrade / Scotland Yard 20 4.4 Mary Morstan 21 4.5 Irene Adler 23 4.6 Molly Hooper 23 4.7 A Conclusion to the Characters 25 Conclusion 26 Bibliography 27 3 Introduction There are very few people who have never heard of Sherlock Holmes. That is not because everyone has read Arthur Conan Doyle's stories about this famous character. Ever since the stories were first published in 1887 they have been adapted into screen films and television series. During these 100 years the character has also transformed. Newer adaptations have also been inspired by previous adaptations, which changes the Holmes that was first created by Conan Doyle into a character that the everyone who adapts him contributes to. Film adaptations are a filmmaker's interpretations of stories and characters. In recent years several Sherlock Holmes adaptations have been created. Many alterations regarding the original stories by Doyle have been made to please the contemporary audience. Due to limited time and space, this thesis shall focus mainly on the BBC series Sherlock created by Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat, which first aired in 2010. Gatiss and Moffat have analysed the characters and stories thoroughly; they have then deconstructed them en reassembled them in twenty-first century England.
[Show full text]
To Look for a Society in Your Area
ZSOC-GEO.TXT ACTIVE SHERLOCKIAN SOCIETIES (GEOGRAPHICAL) (AS OF JULY 17, 2017): Baker Street Vienna Silvia Groniewicz AT Vienna Anton-Baumgartnerstrasse 44/C5/1/1 1230 Vienna AUSTRIA The Sydney Passengers Bill Barnes AU NS Sydney 19 Malvern Avenue Manly, N.S.W. 2095 AUSTRALIA The Sherlock Holmes Society of South Australia Mark Chellew AU SA Adelaide P.O. Box 85 Daw Park, SA 5041 AUSTRALIA The Sherlock Holmes Society of Melbourne Michael Duke AU VI Melbourne 3 Gillies Street Hampton, Vic. 3188 AUSTRALIA The Sherlock Holmes Society of Western Australia Fred Rutter AU WA Perth 49 Cedar Way Forrestfield, WA 6058 AUSTRALIA Le peloton des cyclistes solitaires Cedric C. Goffinet BE Brussels Rue de Levallois-Perret 46 B-1080 Bruxelles The 221Bees Ivo Dekoning BE Lummen Goeslaerstraat 45 3560 Lummen BELGIUM The Isadora Klein Amateur Mendicant Society Carlos Orsi Martinho BR Jundiai r. Zacarias de Goes, 404, ap. 92 Jundiai-SP 13201-800 BRAZIL The Singular Society of the Baker Street Dozen Charles Prepolec Page 1 ZSOC-GEO.TXT CA AB Calgary 101 Royal Bay NW Calgary, AB T3G 5J6 CANADA The Wisteria Lodgers of Edmonton Constantine Kaoukakis CA AB Edmondon 9705 163rd Street NW Edmonton, AB T5P 3N1 CANADA The Stormy Petrels of British Columbia Krista Lee Munro CA BC Vancouver e-mail: [email protected] CANADA The Great Herd of Bisons of the Fertile Plains Ihor Mayba CA MB Winnipeg 6 Melness Bay Winnipeg, MB R2K 2T5 CANADA The Halifax Spence Munros Mark J. Alberstat CA NS Halifax 46 Kingston Crescent Dartmouth, NS B3A 2M2 CANADA The Main Street Irregulars Trevor S.
[Show full text]
The Evolution of Sherlock Holmes: Adapting Character Across Time
The Evolution of Sherlock Holmes: Adapting Character Across Time and Text Ashley D. Polasek Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY awarded by De Montfort University December 2014 Faculty of Art, Design, and Humanities De Montfort University Table of Contents Abstract ........................................................................................................................... iv Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................... v INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................... 1 Theorising Character and Modern Mythology ............................................................ 1 ‘The Scarlet Thread’: Unraveling a Tangled Character ...........................................................1 ‘You Know My Methods’: Focus and Justification ..................................................................24 ‘Good Old Index’: A Review of Relevant Scholarship .............................................................29 ‘Such Individuals Exist Outside of Stories’: Constructing Modern Mythology .......................45 CHAPTER ONE: MECHANISMS OF EVOLUTION ............................................. 62 Performing Inheritance, Environment, and Mutation .............................................. 62 Introduction..............................................................................................................................62
[Show full text]
William S. Baring-Gould Was a Time Executive Whose Contributions to the Literary World (And Especially to Sherlockians) Are Manifest
Honorary Member, Emeritus photo courtesy of Bill Vande Water William Stuart Baring-Gould 1913-1967 William S. Baring-Gould was a Time executive whose contributions to the literary world (and especially to Sherlockians) are manifest. Mr. Baring-Gould was a descendent of the well-known author and archivist Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould (1834-1924) who was a featured character in Laurie King's book The Moor. He was the author of numerous important Sherlockian works including, Sherlock Holmes of Baker Street, The Chronological Holmes and the famous The Annotated Sherlock Holmes. The Annotated Sherlock Holmes is considered by many Sherlockians as his crowning achievement and is a must in every Sherlock Holmes Collection. He authored other works, including The Lure of the Limerick: An Uninhibited History, Nero Wolfe of West Thirty-fifth Street (a work about the detective whom some speculate is the "son" of Sherlock Holmes) and collaborated with his wife, Ceil, onThe Annotated Mother Goose, Nursery Rhymes Old and New. All of these works are important volumes in their respective literary worlds. Mr. Baring-Gould was BSI and invested as "The Gloria Scott". Julian Wolfe said at his passing: "In the true Irregular tradition, and in accordance with the precepts of Christopher Morley, he was always ready to encourage young Sherlockians, many of whom owe much to his valuable asistance." Sherlockian.Net: William S. Baring-Gould Bill Baring-Gould, 1913-1967 W. S. Baring-Gould was an executive of Time Inc. and a distinguished though modest Sherlockian (invested in the Baker Street Irregulars as "The Gloria Scott", 1952).
[Show full text]
Casting Call
PLACER REPERTORY THEATER Sherlock Holmes: Domestic Mysteries series AUDITIONS For official release: September 28, 2020 AUDITION DUE DATE: Wednesday, October 7, by 5 P.M. Email your resume and a link to your digital materials (.MOV or .MP4 files on Google Drive, YouTube or similar) to [email protected] no later than 5 PM, October 7, 2020. CASTING CALL Placer Repertory Theater seeks actors for four episodes of a digital series on YouTube, Sherlock Holmes: Detective Mysteries Series. These approx. 10-minute episodes are new comedic detective stories inspired by the characters of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Set in the present (2020), the characters of Holmes & Watson are borrowed from the 1890s (The Sign of the Four). The scripts explore the bro-mance, passive-aggression and power/status struggles within domestic relationships while solving a “domestic mystery” from Holmes’ Baker Street domicile. Performance stipend: $40 per episode in which the actor is cast, and a digital copy of the episode. Due to COVID-19, actors rehearse with the full cast via Zoom and shoot in their own home using their own camera (smart phone) in front of a green screen (screen and technical instruction provided). Occasionally, some scenes may be shot in an open, outdoor environment in which each actor is more than six feet from other performers (such as a park). Digital audition requirements • Performance résume • URL (link) to an audition video containing: o Performance of one or more sides (may be read or memorized) ▪ You may audition for more than one character, if desired Digital audition recommendations: (not required) • 1 style monologue (British accent preferred) • Optional accent samples (if you know any of the following accents): o Irish o Scottish o RP o Marked-RP o Estuary English/Cockney DIGITAL AUDITION DATES AUDITION DUE DATE: Wednesday, October 7, by 5 P.M.
[Show full text]
2015 Jhws Treasure Hunt
2015 JHWS TREASURE HUNT “Mr. Sherlock Holmes” Category: Holmes’s personality 1. This author, while writing his own stories about a fatherly detective, went so far as to assert that Sherlock Holmes was not a man, but a god. Who? (1 pt.) Answer: G.K. Chesterton, author of the Father Brown mysteries ---See The Sherlock Holmes Collection, The University of Minnesota, USH Volume I, Section VI: The Writings About the Writings, Chesterson, G.K., Sherlock Holmes the God, G.K.’s Weekly (February 21, 1935), at lib.umn.edu, and numerous others. ---Full quote: “Not once is there a glance at the human and hasty way in which the stories were written; not once even an admission that they were written. The real inference is that Sherlock Holmes really existed and that Conan Doyle never existed. If posterity only reads these latter books, it will certainly suppose them to be serious. It will imagine that Sherlock Holmes was a man. But he was not; he was only a god.” 2. Holmes did not, perhaps, have a knowledge of women across the continents, but, according to Watson, Holmes did hold a position across several of them. How many continents and what position? (2 pts.) Answer: Three, position of unofficial adviser and helper to everybody who is absolutely puzzled ---W., p. 191, IDEN: I smiled and shook my head. "I can quite understand you thinking so," I said. "Of course, in your position of unofficial adviser and helper to everybody who is absolutely puzzled, throughout three continents, you are brought in contact with all that is strange and bizarre.
[Show full text]
Writer's Guide to the World of Mary Russell
Information for the Writer of Mary Russell Fan Fiction Or What Every Writer needs to know about the world of Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes as written by Laurie R. King in what is known as The Kanon By: Alice “…the girl with the strawberry curls” **Spoiler Alert: This document covers all nine of the Russell books currently in print, and discloses information from the latest memoir, “The Language of Bees.” The Kanon BEEK – The Beekeeper’s Apprentice MREG – A Monstrous Regiment of Women LETT – A Letter of Mary MOOR – The Moor OJER – O Jerusalem JUST – Justice Hall GAME – The Game LOCK – Locked Rooms LANG – The Language of Bees GOTH – The God of the Hive Please note any references to the stories about Sherlock Holmes published by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (known as The Canon) will be in italics. The Time-line of the Books BEEK – Early April 1915 to August of 1919 when Holmes invites the recovering Russell to accompany him to France and Italy for six weeks, to return before the beginning of the Michaelmas Term in Oxford (late Sept.) MREG – December 26, 1920 to February 6, 1921 although the postscript takes us six to eight weeks later, and then several months after that with two conversations. LETT – August 14, 1923 to September 8, 1923 MOOR – No specific dates given but soon after LETT ends, so sometime the end of September or early October 1923 to early November 1923. We know that Russell and Holmes arrived back at the cottage on Nov. 5, 1923. OJER – From the final week of December 1918 until approx.
[Show full text]
The Adventure of the Empty House
The Adventure of the Empty House Arthur Conan Doyle This text is provided to you “as-is” without any warranty. No warranties of any kind, expressed or implied, are made to you as to the text or any medium it may be on, including but not limited to warranties of merchantablity or ﬁtness for a particular purpose. This text was formatted from various free ASCII and HTML variants. See http://sherlock-holm.esfor an electronic form of this text and additional information about it. This text comes from the collection’s version 3.1. t was in the spring of the year 1894 that The Honourable Ronald Adair was the second all London was interested, and the fash- son of the Earl of Maynooth, at that time Governor ionable world dismayed, by the murder of one of the Australian Colonies. Adair’s mother I of the Honourable Ronald Adair under had returned from Australia to undergo the opera- most unusual and inexplicable circumstances. The tion for cataract, and she, her son Ronald, and her public has already learned those particulars of the daughter Hilda were living together at 427, Park crime which came out in the police investigation; Lane. The youth moved in the best society, had, so but a good deal was suppressed upon that occa- far as was known, no enemies, and no particular sion, since the case for the prosecution was so over- vices. He had been engaged to Miss Edith Woodley, whelmingly strong that it was not necessary to of Carstairs, but the engagement had been broken bring forward all the facts.
[Show full text]
Download Issue
THE DISTRICT MESSENGER The Newsletter of the Sherlock Holmes Society of London Roger Johnson, Mole End, 41 Sandford Road, Chelmsford CM2 6DE no. 145 18th October 1994 John Bennett Shaw ('The Hans Sloane of My Age', BSI) died on the 2nd October, of a heart attack, just a week before his 81st birthday. He didn't lose consciousness and was not in pain; death itself came suddenly and instantaneously. Much of the December 1990 issue of The Baker Street Journal was devoted to John's life and career as a Sherlockian, and a proper tribute should be that long. Briefly though: he was probably the world's greatest and most omnivorous Holmesian collector; he was responsible for starting more Holmes societies than most of us can imagine; he vetted applications to become scions of the Baker Street Irregulars; he had a taste for good food, good drink and bad puns; he was Big Brother in the most stimulating and comfortable way possible, and as such he had hundreds (perhaps thousands) of little brothers and sisters world-wide. He was irreplaceable. Another long-time supporter of this newsletter died recently, Mr L.T. Archer of Clacton-on-Sea; an elderly gentleman who was unable to attend the Society's meetings often, he was related to George Lusk of the Whitechapel vigilantes ('From Hell. Mr Lusk, Sor...’). Peter Blau reports that Robert Bloch died on the 23rd September; though he'll be forever tagged 'the author of PsychoPsycho’, he made good use in his stories and essays of his knowledge and love of the Holmesian canon.
[Show full text]
Trenches: the War Service of Sherlock
Trenches: The War Service of Sherlock Holmes A Facsimile of the Partial Original Manuscript of “His Last Bow” by Arthur Conan Doyle with Annotations and Commentary on the Story and Studies of Sherlock Holmes, Arthur Conan Doyle and World War I Edited & introduced by Robert Katz, MD, BSI and Andrew Solberg, BSI Order it at: www.bakerstreetjournal.com 288 pages, 10” x 7” hardcover, December 2017 With the manuscript reproduction plus 48 b&w illustrations August 1914 – Mycroft Holmes and Pre-War European Diplomacy by Ross Davies What caused World War I? And how was it that the diplomats and their masters failed to avert such an obviously disastrous bloodbath?1 Scholars cannot agree. Indeed, even among elite European historians (a crowd that specializes in studying the evolution of a complex of complex cultures), the tangled threads that led to the Great War are viewed as an extraordinarily terrible mare’s nest. Nevertheless, there is enough common ground on some main themes to make for a fairly coherent conventional narrative of pre-war European diplomacy. It begins in October 1879 — when Austria-Hungary and Germany formed the Dual Alliance. It ends in August 1914 — when diplomacy failed and the Central Powers (Austria-Hungary and Germany) and the Entente Powers (France, Russia and Great Britain) declared war on each other. That passage of 35 years also marks, roughly, the span of Mycroft Holmes’s career in the British government. His involvement in the maneuverings of the great powers in those times may be invisible to most modern eyes (as it was to his contemporaries), but there are clues.
[Show full text]
Miss-Holmes.Pdf
r J I I I I = I o pflss 3 o -I HOl,,PlDS Dtama. By Chtistophet M. Vaftsh. Inspited by the wotks of Sit Atthut Conan Doyle. Cast: 5 to 70m., 4 to 8w Inspired by the works of Sit Atthur Conan Doyle, this theatical "fan t 6cdon" re-examines the Victorian wotld of Holmes and Watson by exploring the added obstacles faced by these two iconic characters if they were women. \W'hen an anonltnous note sends a newlpved wife iooking for help, N[iss Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Dorothy Watson work together to uncover the secrets a{ fla swrounding a corrupt police inspector. But this Holmes and Watson face far greater challenges than bringing the criminal l:l to justice. N{iss Holmes possesses one of the greatest deductive minds of her generation, but she chafes at the restraints imposed upon her by society. Dr. Watson stuggles to make a difference at the only hospital in London that will hire femaie doctors. Urut set. Approimate tulning time: 135 mrnures. Code: lr-1Q5000. t DIISS Covcr l)csign: Cistian l'achcc<t. {r HOtltlDS I By Walsh 978-1-61 959-152-3 d Chrislopher lrf 3 o I P,rg,ng,llg".SnRlHntng o c! 311 Washington Street g ililruruilflil[lilil Woodstock, lL 60098 z lnsplrcd by the urork$ of Sir Arlhur Conan Doylc 800-448-7469 a ww.dromolicpublishing.com o Miss Holmes was originally produced by Lifeline Theatre in Chicago and premiere d n 2016 - Miss Holmes Cast: Sherlock Holmes...... .Katie Mclean Hainsworth CHARACTERS Dorothy Watson ....""' Mandy Walsh Lizzie dnapmaVleggyAvlartha -..
[Show full text]